Second Chance (39 page)

I sigh and stare up at the sky
.
I comment that one
of the clouds looks like
a bowl full of
popcorn
.
They both ignore my observation
.

“What if you try to make Gray jealous?” Cat asks
.
“That might speed things up.”
I glance at her
doubtfully
and ask how I’m supposed to do that.

“Wait,” Lenny says
and sits up
straighter
.
“I know
.
Travis comes into the Brew House every
day
at the same time
.
If you just happen to be there and Gray just happens to
walk in and
see you
two together..
.”

Cat slams her hand on the grass. “
Brilliant,”
she says.
Before I can open my mouth up to argue, they’re already discussing
what I’m going to wear
for my date of betrayal
.

GRAY

Five days
later
I
still
can’t get
Dylan
out of my head
.
She planted a seed and
it’s
growing and
invading my thoughts.

But where is this going to go
?
I tried to stay away from her and that didn’t work. I tried to be just friends. Fail. What if we
become
friends with benefits? Just two
quirky kids that
meet up for a fling every summer
?
Can I make Dylan that easily interchangeable
?

I walk into the Brew House because I
have
to unload on someone
,
and I know Lenny will
be
only
to
o happy to hear me admit I’m still in love with Dylan
.
When I walk in, Lenny has this weird look on her face, something close to
guilt
.
I walk up to the counter and ask her what’s wrong.

“You didn’t get my text?” she asks
.

I shake my head and
tell her my phone’s turned off
.
S
he sa
ys
she sent me a code red, which means I need to drop everything I’m doing and call her
.
She
’s
only used a code red on me twice
—on
e night when she got a flat tire, and one morning when she had to
perform a
major walk of shame and needed emotional support
(a
nd an extra pair of shoes since she managed to lose hers
)
.

My mouth drops open and I think the worst
.
“Did you get fired?” 

She rolls her eyes
.
“I wish.”

“Did you poison a football player?” (
a
threat she continually promises to follow through with)
.

“
Shh
.
No.”
  She shifts her eyes and I follow her sta
re to the back of the room. F
irst I
grin
because I see Dylan
,
but then I blink and I swear she’s sitting at a table with Travis
,
but I must be seeing things
.
I blink again
,
but he’s still there so I blink one more time and then
my eyes
widen
because
I see his hand touch her fucking leg
.
My
primitive
caveman
instinct slams into territorial mode. 
It’s w
ar
time
.

I glare at Lenny like this
is all
her fault.

“Don’t look at me,” she says
.
“I don’t condone this kind of behavior
.
They didn’t show up together, if it makes you feel any better
.
But they’ve been sitting there for two hours so I thought it was time to
combine
forces.”

I ball my hands into a fist and my blood is racing
.
I swear steam is rising from my body.
Travis
Toolshed
Taylor
?
Is she
serious
?
 

“Gray, take a few deep breaths
.
Y
ou have a little bit of an angry
streak.”

I ignore her a
s I
walk towards the happy stupid couple
. All these thoughts
are r
acin
g through my head
.
Does Travis actually like Dylan
?
Or is he just using her to piss me off
?
Could Dylan be even remotely attracted to a self
-
absorbed prick like Travis
?
He coul
d be the poster boy for Oscar Ma
yer, he’s such a meathead
.
And what does he see in Dylan
?
She’s not his type
.
He goes for tall, skinny, sexy
…
shit
.
She is
completely
his type
.

When I approach the table Dylan looks away from the laptop
she
and
Toolshed
were peer
ing
into
.
She smiles at me and it’s this innocent smile like she was hoping to run into me so I could be the third wheel on their little coffee date.

“Hey!” she says
.
Travis turns around and he smiles too
.
As I stare back and forth between them, th
eir future passes before my eyes like a montage sequence
:
A wedding invitation announcing Travis and Dylan’s wedding
.
A birth announcement arrives, introducing me to their healthy baby boy, Travis Jr
.
I see their dream house
:
a two story brick home with a
red minivan in the driveway,
a
white picket fence and a mailbox with birds painted on it to receive all the happy mail for the Travis and Dylan happy abode
.

“Gray?” Dylan asks and there’s worry in her voice
.
“You okay?”

I blink back at her and she tells me Travis is helping her
build
a website for her photography
.

“It’s not as hard as I thought,” she says and Travis leans
in and smiles
coolly
.

“You just have a good teacher,” he
says
.
She turns to me and asks if I want to sit down
.

I
can
practically hear my
blood rushing to my head
.
“Can I talk to you for a second?” I
ask
,
fight
ing
to keep my voice steady.

“
Sure.”
She shifts her chair around until she
face
s
me
.
She’s wearing a shirt that actually fits. It hugs her chest and brings out the green in her eyes.
I don’t want Travis to have that kind of luxury
view
.

“Outside,” I say.

Dylan follows me out the door
.
I walk down the block because I need a few seconds to cool off
.
It doesn’t help
.
I still want to scream
.
I turn and glare at her when she catches up to me.

“Travis
Toolshed
Taylor
?
Are you kidding me?”

She raises her eyebrows
.
“That’s not really his middle name, is it?”

I throw my hands up with exasperation
.
“Of all the guys in this state, you’re on a date with the one guy who’s so
stupid
—
”

She
puts a hand on
her hip
.
“First of all, it’s not a date
.
I was sitting there, minding my own business, well, actually eavesdropping on these two girls at the table next to me who were discussing this new
salt
-free
diet they’re trying—
”